


Different Doesn't Mean Less

by Sk8er_Chica



Category: S.W.A.T. (TV 2017)
Genre: Cute Kids, Dyslexia, Episode: s01e18 Patrol, Gen, Learning Disabilities, Mentor/Protégé
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-20
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2019-04-25 09:28:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14375910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sk8er_Chica/pseuds/Sk8er_Chica
Summary: Kelly is a feisty third-grader recently diagnosed with dyslexia. Luca is a cop who knows all too well how it feels to be in her shoes. After a difficult tutoring session, he takes it upon himself to cheer her up.





	Different Doesn't Mean Less

While spotting Chris on the weight bench and coaxing a few more reps out of her, Luca’s watch began to beep.

“Hey, Hondo, can you come take over?” he asked, replacing the bar on the rack. “I got someplace to be and I don’t wanna be late.”

The SWAT team leader nodded. “Sure thing, man. Have a good one.”

Street watched curiously as his partner/roommate headed off to the locker room. “You guys notice he only ducks outta here early on Wednesdays? Not paydays, not weekends. I bet it has something to do with that single mom from the field trip.”

“Luca’s into single moms now?” asked Chris, sitting up to take a few gulps from her water bottle.

“I think Luca’s into anybody who’ll go out with him more than once,” said Tan.

“Maybe he’ll move in with her and I can get my couch back,” Street said hopefully.

 

Luca pulled into the parking lot of Sunset Elementary School, tapping his steering wheel in time with the playlist he’d cued up on his phone. (Katy Perry was actually starting to grow on him). “California Gurls” was just ending when a group of kids exited the building. Among them was a tall, black-haired 8-year-old. Her shoulders slumped as she shuffled toward him.

“Hey, what’s up, Kelly?” Luca waved.

Kelly wordlessly opened the car’s back door, dropping her tie-dyed backpack on the floor as if it weighed a ton. Before Luca could ask what was wrong, he was interrupted by a woman with short, dark hair jogging up to the window.

“This little munchkin left her homework folder,” she said, smiling kindly at Kelly and handing it to Luca. “Hi, I’m Miss Sharon. You must be Kelly’s mom’s boyfriend.”

Luca didn’t quite know how to react to that comment, so he just shook her hand and introduced himself.

“Nice to finally meet you. Kelly told me how much you help her out when her mom’s working,” Miss Sharon went on. “I wish all my students had this kind of support. Kelly’s improving every time I see her. She’s a good kid.”

“What do you say?” Luca prompted.

“Thanks, Miss Sharon,” Kelly mumbled, fastening her seatbelt.

“Remember to bring your spelling test on Friday so we can go over it,” Miss Sharon said. “’Bye, Kelly. ‘Bye, Mr. Luca.”

As soon as the teacher had gone back into the building, Kelly’s face crumpled and she burst into tears.

“Whoa, whoa, what’s wrong, Kell?” Luca was a little startled.

“I-I h-h-hate these st-stupid classes,” Kelly sobbed. “I still c-can’t read!”

Luca didn’t have tissues, so he handed her a napkin from In ‘N Out. He sent a frantic text to Deacon, asking how to cheer up a crying kid. He’d seen Kelly frustrated after these sessions, but never like this.

“Uh, well, your tutor seems nice,” Luca started lamely.

“She just makes my h-head hurt. I’m never gonna—gonna learn,” Kelly continued. “I’m gonna be stupid forever.”

That was like a knife in Luca’s heart. How many times had he said those exact words to himself growing up (or heard them said by less-than-caring teachers)? Classmates calling him Dumb Dom when they thought he wasn’t listening...

“Kelly.” Luca swallowed hard to keep the hitch out of his voice. “Listen to me, Kelly, you’re not stupid.”

“Yes, I am!” she insisted. “Ev-everyone else in my class c-can read!”

“I know reading is hard for you, but it’ll get better, kiddo.”

“How do _you_ know?” challenged Kelly.

“’Cause I had problems with reading when I was your age.” Luca told her. “I thought I was dumb too, all the way ‘til I went to high school.”

“R-really?”

“I still have trouble reading, but it’s not as bad as it was before,” said Luca. “I had to see a special teacher too, just like Miss Sharon. You and me, we just learn different, Kelly, that’s all it is. You aren’t stupid.”

Kelly seemed to think this over as she dried her eyes and nose with the napkin.

“You know what we need right now, Kelly?” asked Luca, backing out of the parking lot.

“What?” she sniffled.

“An emergency Beyonce party.” Luca scrolled through his phone until he got to the song he was looking for. “ _Allllll the single ladies, all the single ladies_ —“ He paused the music. “I can’t hear ya back there, Kelly. Let’s try this again." He pushed play. " _A_ _lllll the single ladies_ ….”

“ _All the single ladies_ …” Kelly echoed joylessly.

To make her laugh, Luca began to sing off-key, throwing in the hand motions from the video. By the second chorus, Kelly had joined in.

“ _If you liked it, then you shoulda put a ring on it_!” She waved the Ring-Pop that Miss Sharon had given her for finishing all her tutoring worksheets.

“That’s better, much better,” chuckled Luca.

A notification popped up from his food truck app. The chicken ‘n waffles wagon was currently stationed at a nearby park.

“Hey, Kelly, why don’t you and me get some dinner before I drop you back off with your mom?” he suggested.

The little girl’s spirits seemed to have deflated again. She shook her head, staring at the toes of her white Chuck Taylors.

“Are you sure?” Luca pressed. “I bet you’re hungry after all that studying.”

“No,” sighed Kelly. “I don’t feel good. My tummy hurts.”

“You know the same thing used to happen to me?” said Luca. “Whenever we had a spelling test or we had to read out loud in class. Man, I used to get so nervous that I’d make myself puke so I could go lie down in the nurse’s office.”

“That’s so gross.” Kelly wrinkled her nose. “It’s _way_ easier to just pull the fire alarm.”

“Ah-ah-ah,” Luca warned. “Remember, we talked about that.”

Kelly sighed again. “I know.”

Her tutoring folder was on the seat next to him and Luca noticed something sticking out of it: a Scholastic book fair catalog.

“Does this have anything to do with why your tummy hurts?” Luca inquired gently, holding up the magazine.

“Miss Sharon said we have to pick out something at the book fair to read in tutoring. And that’s way too hard!” Kelly looked and sounded like she was ready to start crying again. “She knows we can’t read!”

“Well, you can’t if you don’t practice,” Luca reasoned. “I had to practice a lot when I was learning to drive that big truck, you know, Black Betty. I used to run over traffic cones and hit the brakes too hard. This one time, I almost hit a fire hydrant trying to park."

“That’s different, Uncle Luca. You don’t have to read to drive a truck,” she protested.

“I sure did,” Luca told her. “When I turned 16, I had to pass a written test so I could get my driver’s license. Had to take that sucker three times, but you know what? I passed. All that matters is you don’t give up on yourself.”

“Miss Sharon says that too.”

“Your teacher’s a smart lady,” said Luca. “If you want, me and your mom can help you pick out a book. Something you’ll really like. And you can practice reading in front of me and with your mom. We won’t make fun of you.”

“Mommy's always busy or too tired. Everyone makes fun of me when I try to read,” Kelly said sadly.

“Then those kids are just mean. Forget ‘em.” Luca knew from experience that was easier said than done, but it was the same advice his mom had given him. “Just focus on doing the very best you can in school. I promise things get easier. You hafta hang in there.”

“Like the kitty poster on Miss Sharon’s door?”

Luca nodded. “Just like the kitty poster.”

In the rearview mirror, Luca saw Kelly crack a weak smile.

“How’s your tummy feel now?” he asked.

Kelly hugged herself. “It’s growling.”

“Mine too,” Luca agreed. “Do you like chicken strips?”

Kelly nodded enthusiastically.

“Do you like waffles?”

“Yeah!” she cheered.

“I know someplace where we can get both of 'em…at the same time.”

"No way!"

When they reached the park, Luca saw a text on his phone from Kelly’s mom. She was running behind at work and hoped he wouldn’t mind getting Kelly some dinner. Luca texted back to let her know where they were, receiving a ‘ _You’re the best_ ’ and a smiley face emoji in response.

“Oh my gosh, I’m _starving_!” cried Kelly as they stood in line, breathing in the smell coming from the truck.

“How many chicken strips you want?” asked Luca.

“Four!” said Kelly.

“Four?" Luca repeated. "I think your eyes might be bigger than your stomach, kiddo,” he teased, but ordered exactly that.

They took their cardboard trays and drinks over to a picnic shelter. Kelly eagerly popped the lid off her dipping cup of syrup and started dunking her waffles. Once Luca thought the edge was taken off the little girl’s hunger, he started flipping through the Scholastic catalog and making suggestions.

“How ‘bout this book? It’s about a little girl who spends the summer at the beach with dolphins.”

“I love dolphins!" she said around the straw from her frozen lemonade. "How many pages is it?” she wanted to know.

“Uh, 224.”

“That’s way too many!” Kelly groaned.

Luca crossed it out with one of her crayons. “Okay, okay. How ‘bout, uh, this one? It’s something to do with _Beauty and the Beast_.”

Kelly's face lit up. “That’s my favorite movie!" After a few seconds' thought, she looked down at the table, her face hidden by a curtain of black hair. "But I bet it's too many pages."

“Says 24 right here,” Luca reported.

“I _guess_ that’s not _too_ bad,” said Kelly, stirring the syrup with one of her chicken strips.

Luca circled the book with a flourish and drew a star next to it. After Kelly finished every bite, they returned to Luca’s car, where the third-grader requested to hear “Black Betty.” She was still singing the chorus when her mom opened the front door.

“Looks like you two had fun,” observed Kelly’s mom.

“Of course, she’s a great kid,” said Luca, handing over the backpack and homework folder. "Sounded like Kelly had kind of a tough day at school, but she seems better now. I gave her a little pep talk, got both of us some good food."

"Are you gonna take me to tutoring again next week?" asked Kelly.

"Same bat time, same bat channel." Luca promised. He squatted down to her level. "Gimme five."

Kelly gave Luca a high-five, a quick hug, and a “’Night, Uncle Luca” before hurrying inside. Unexpectedly, Kelly’s mom pulled him into an embrace.

“I can’t thank you enough, Sergeant Luca,” she said. “The school hasn’t called me about her acting out in three weeks and that’s a record. It means so much for Kelly to have someone around who understands what she’s going through.”

Kelly’s mom gave him an equally unexpected peck on the cheek. Kelly giggled from somewhere in the living room.

‘ _Maybe Captain Cortez is right about this community policing thing_ ,’ Luca thought to himself as he drove back to Street's place.


End file.
